Jio Adds 1.6 Mn Mobile Subscribers In April, Vodafone Idea Loses 1.56 Mn Users

Telecom operator Jio added more than 1.6 Mn wireless subscribers in April, according to the telecom subscription data released by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI).

This was the second consecutive month of growth for Jio. Bharti Airtel also added 8.16 Lakh customers to its user base, while Vodafone Idea (Vi) lost more than 1.56 Mn subscribers during April 2022. 

All other telecom operators saw a decrease in their subscriber country during April.

The surge in Jio’s subscriber count was led by additions in rural parts of the country. The Reliance-owned operator’s rural users grew 1.3 Mn, while Airtel added 8.78 Lakh rural users on its platform during the same period.

Reliance Jio led the market with a market share of 35.5%, followed by Bharti Airtel with 31.61% share. Vi accounted for 22.68% of the total Indian wireless user base, while state-owned BSNL and MTNL together accounted for 10.21% of the total market share.

The total wireless subscribers in the country grew 0.05% month-on-month (MoM) to 1,142.66 Mn at the end of April 2022.

Wireless subscription in urban areas fell 0.07% on a monthly basis to 623.78 Mn in April, while rural wireless subscription grew to 518.88 Mn during the same period. 

The pan-India wireless tele-density in India declined to 83.05% at the end of April from 83.07% in March. This was attributed to a 0.30% fall in urban tele-density to 129.87%. On the other hand, rural tele-density rose further to 57.85% in April 2022.

Wireline subscribers grew to 25.16 Mn at the end of April from 24.84 Mn in March. The overall wireline tele-density also rose from 1.81% at the end of March to 1.83% in April 2022. Government-owned BSNL and MTNL led the market, with a combined share of 40.16% in the wireline market.

Broadband subscribers also witnessed an uptick, growing 0.06% to 788.77 Mn in April. Jio continued to lead the segment with a 52.15% share, followed by Bharti Airtel with 27.19% share and Vi with 15.47% users, the data showed. 

In April, telcos received more than 7.82 Mn requests for mobile number portability (MNP). Most of these came from Maharashtra, which accounted for 57.46 Mn requests, followed by Uttar Pradesh-East circle with about 54.09 Mn requests. 

The telecom market has been witnessing intense competition for the last few years since the launch of Jio. With tariffs falling drastically, the consolidation in the market led to the presence of only three major private telecom operators – Jio, Bharti Airtel and Vi.

However, the recent increase in tariffs by the players has led to an increase in their average revenue per user (ARPU). Jio’s ARPU grew 21.3% quarter-on-quarter to INR 167.6 during the March quarter, while Airtel reported ARPU of INR 178 during the same quarter. 

The telecom operators are now gearing up for the launch of 5G services in the country. On June 15, the Union Cabinet gave its nod for the auction of 5G spectrum. 72 GHz of spectrum will be auctioned by the government in July.